Under-21 finals tickets selling fast

There are still over ten weeks to go before a ball is kicked at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, but already fans are making sure of their place at the finals by snapping up tickets for this summer's tournament in Sweden. The host nation's opening game against Belarus in Malmo on 16 June is the hottest ticket so far with nearly 7,000 bought or reserved. A further 6,700 have been taken up for the match between Spain and England at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg on 18 June. Both these fixtures will be accompanied by the official opening ceremonies.

'Amazed'
"I'm amazed at how fast ticket sales are going," the Swedish Football Association's assistant tournament director Bo Sundström said. "Normally we get crowds of 6,000 to our U21 team's matches, with around 2,500 coming to their friendlies. Now we have matches where Sweden is not even playing and tickets sales are already higher than that. The response from the public is a big motivation for us to continue to promote the tournament extensively – together with the host cities, UEFA and all the tournament sponsors – to reach our target of playing the matches in packed stadiums."

High expectations
Although it is a question mark as to who will advance from the group stage, almost 4,000 tickets have been sold for the semi-final in Gothenburg on 26 June. An indication perhaps of Swedish fans' high expectations. What is certain is that organisers face a bigger test selling games on one particular day than all others. "Our biggest challenge is to get packed crowds on Midsummer's Eve [19 June], when we have two matches," tournament director Karl-Erik Nilsson said. "It's the biggest family holiday in the Swedish calendar, bigger than our national day. The host cities are preparing special events on this day. For example, in Malmo there will be an alternative Midsummer celebration, aiming to attract the Serbia and Belarus fans. Helsingborg has similar plans and I have to stress that all four cities have been actively promoting the event and will continue to do so until the festivities and matches start in June."

Book now
Almost 25 per cent of the 180,000 tickets currently available to the public have been purchased, or reserved, for the tournament which runs from 15 to 29 June. The first game between England and Finland on Monday 15 June kicks off at 18.15CET at Orjans Vall in Halmstad, with the second Group B fixture between Spain and Germany at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg following at 20.45. Hosts Sweden commence their campaign in Group A against Belarus on Tuesday 16 June at the Malmö New Stadium at 18.15, with Italy playing Serbia in the other match in the section at the Olympia in Helsingborg at 20.45. For the full tournament match schedule click here.

Tickets can be purchased via www.u21tickets.com or by calling 077 170 70 70 from within Sweden, or +46 77 170 70 70 from abroad.